Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot is a program that aims to fill the current gap in the labor market of rural and northern communities. These communities are experiencing a labor shortage due to youth migration, lower birth rates and an aging population.Northern and rural communities play a vital role in supplying food, water and energy for the rest of Canada and addressing the current labor shortage is critically important.

This is a community driven pilot program which means that the communities will be very involved in the program. It will be the community’s responsibility to identify job opportunities in the local economy and to seek out applicants that match these jobs. They will be looking for candidates that not only meet the needs of a particular job but that also have a genuine desire to settle in the community.

RNIP Participating Communities:

To be included in the pilot, communities must:

have a population of 50,000 people or less and be located at least 75 km from the core of a Census Metropolitan Area OR up to 200,000 people and be considered remote from other larger cities (using Statistics Canada’s index of remoteness)
be located in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Yukon;
have job opportunities;
have an economic development plan;
have a local economic development organization that can manage the pilot for your community;
have the capacity to settle new immigrants in the community

Eligibility Requirements for candidates:

In order to be considered for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program (RNIP), potential candidates must meet the following federal criteria as well as requirements established by the participating community where they are hoping to settle;

Have a valid job offer from a local employer
Get a recommendation from an approved community
Meet the minimum work experience or be exempt as an international student
Take an English or French language test and meet the minimum requirements
Hold the minimum education credentials
Have access to enough settlement funds
Show you intend to live in the community

Benefits of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot:

You and your family will come to Canada as permanent residents
Candidates will have jobs/strong community support to find jobs
Small communities that will welcome you and take care of you
Possibly shorter application process compared to Express Entry
Candidates with lower CRS score may benefit if they are well-suited to communities’ economic needs and job vacancies

Application process for permanent residence:

The application process for Permanent Residency here is different to Express Entry. The application process involves:

Candidate approaching one of the listed communities or an employer in the community
Submitting an endorsement application to be assessed by the community
Candidates that are “best fit” will be endorsed and can apply for their Permanent Residency
Immigration Canada will assess the PR application against Federal Selection Criteria and Admissibility requirements
Once approved, candidates and their families will be welcomed to settle in the community